PISCATAWAY, N.J. – George Washington men’s basketball will face Rutgers for the first time in 18 seasons with a trip to the RAC on Tuesday evening in a game that will be regionally televised on SNY and be picked up for online distribution on ESPN3 and WatchESPN. The game is GW’s ninth in 24 days, fourth TV appearance in five games, and third power conference opponent so far this season.
Former Atlantic 10 rivals GW and Rutgers met every year between 1976-95, including three times in less than a month at the end of the 1994-95 season, with the Colonials claiming the first of those three meetings before the Scarlet Knights departed for the Big East. The teams’ last met in the 1995 Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinals, with the seventh-seeded Scarlet Knights upsetting the second-seeded Colonials, 80-73, at the Palestra in Philadelphia. RU won the most recent meeting at the RAC, 91-87, on Feb. 28, 1995.
GW is playing its second straight power conference opponent after falling to Kansas State on Saturday, and its second Big East foe following a 65-48 loss at Notre Dame on Nov. 21. The Colonials last defeated a power conference team on Dec. 18, 2010 with an 87-79 victory at Oregon State.
Coach Mike Lonergan will face a team from the current Big East membership for the 10th time (1-8) and go for his second win over Rutgers on Tuesday. He led his former team Vermont to a 77-71 victory over Rutgers at the RAC in the 2009 Legends Classic Piscataway Regional. Current GW Assistant Director of Operations and former Catamounts’ guardMaurice Joseph scored 17 points, including four clutch free throws in the final 27 seconds to clinch the victory.
The Colonials player or coach most familiar with Rutgers is actually first-year GW standout Isaiah Armwood, who faced RU three times during his two seasons at Villanova from 2009-11, winning two of the three games. Armwood actually hasn’t missed a field goal in three games against the Scarlet Knights, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor His totals in those three games: 45 minutes (15.0 mpg), 18 points (6.0 ppg), 13 rebounds (4.3 rpg), 5-5 FG, 8-10 FT
GW has dropped its last two games by a combined seven points after a 72-68 loss at Bradley last Tuesday and a 65-62 loss to Kansas State on Saturday. Senior forward Isaiah Armwood posted a double-double in both games, averaging 12.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 4.5 blocks on the week, while freshman Patricio Garino averaged a team-high 17.0 points, including a career-high 24 points against the Braves.
Rutgers returns home to the RAC for the first time since Nov. 20 after a pair of road games and its most recent outing at Madison Square Garden on Saturday – a 81-73 victory over Iona in the annual MSG Holiday Festival. GW and RU share one common opponent in Boston University, a team the Colonials beat 72-59 on Nov. 17 and the Scarlet Knights edged, 81-79, three days later.
Sophomore backcourt duo Eli Carter and Myles Mack pace the Scarlet Knights in scoring, averaging 16.0 and 15.4 points, respectively. Mack led five double-digit scorers in the recent victory over Iona with 19 points, while Carter chipped in 12 points. Junior Mike Poole, who averages 4.4 points and 2.9 rebounds, came off the bench for a career-high 18 points and seven boards against the Gaels, while senior Dane Miller provided a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double.
Wally Judge leads Rutgers in rebounding at 7.9 boards per game and adds 7.9 points per outing in his first season with the team. Judge, who sat out the 2011-12 campaign at RU after transferring from Kansas State, was an honorable mention Washington Post All-Met selection at Bladensburg High School in 2007 before playing his final two scholastic seasons in Florida. He came off the bench for the first time this season against Iona and added 10 points.
GW enters Tuesday’s game with an 89-155 all-time record against current Big East Conference teams: Cincinnati – 1-12; Connecticut – 1-4; DePaul – 2-2; Georgetown – 41-55; Pittsburgh – 9-17; Providence – 1-3; Rutgers – 18-22; Seton Hall – 1-3; St. John’s – 5-19; Syracuse – 1-7; USF – 3-1; Villanova – 6-10.
GW will play just two games over the next 19 days, beginning with an 11-day break for final exams until its next game on Dec. 22 against VMI at the Charles E. Smith Center. The Colonials then take an eight-day break for the Christmas holiday before hosting Sacred Heart at the Smith Center on Dec. 30.
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